One time my grandmother Ira showed an old ring and said: ”Do you know,
what happened to this ring?”
My grandmother’s story – three solders.
It was 1947. My grandmother
was studying in the Perm medical university and it was second year as a
student. She says that it was very difficult time, after the war, no money,
nothing much to wear, no good shoes or anything new.
Food had more value than
anything in the world. And all she had was her small about seven rubles
scholarship from the university and little bit food her parents were able to
send her once every three or four months.
Only our youth was the biggest great thing!
One time she met a very nice young man, Andrey, was his
name. Andrey was a student too, charming and funny. One time he walked my grandmother to the old
house where the medical students were living in tiny rooms.
My grandmother had just received a box with food from her
parents and she invited Andrey to eat something together.
The next day when Ira returned from the university her room
was empty, everything was gone: the food, dress, sweater and skirt she only had,
second pair of shoes, books and her mother’s ring that was made from old metal
lid before the war.
My grandmother said how much she was sad, mostly about the
ring. And she had no idea how she will live without the food until her
scholarship at the beginning of the next months. She had no money and no food,
no extra clothes and no one knew what happened, because everyone was in the
university.
For some reason my grandmother knew it was Andrey who stole
all her things. She went straight to Andrey’s house.
Andrey was home, but when he heard about missing food,
clothes and the ring, he laughed at my grandmother’s face and said: “Prove
it”.
My grandmother had no food for a few days, all she had was
water and bread her neighbor gave. Ira
was shy to ask, because everyone was poor too.
Then in the morning someone knocked her door. It was Andrey,
all shaking and white like snow.
He had all my grandmother’s stolen stuff and some more food,
and he tried to push money to my grandmother.
My grandmother was very surprised. Andrey ran so fast and
they did not see each other for more than forty years.
They have met again on some university reunion party. My
grandmother forgot all about that Andrey stole her things, but Andrey called
her a side from the party and said.
“You know what happened the night before I returned back
what I stole from you? I was sleeping with my real girlfriend and then
something pushed me hard on the floor. I opened my eyes, but the room was
empty. Then something kicked my chest and stepped on me. The room was still empty, only I noticed
three shadows in the room. I could not move, could not say a word. Then I heard: ”Return everything to Ira, you
- a bag of garbage Three men in military
uniforms, looked like clouds and I could see through them, steered at me than disappeared.
And I could breathe again”.
My grandmother thinks may be it was her three uncles who
were killed in the Second World War in 1941. And who always cared and loved her
a lot. Or Andrey just had a "guilty" dream and because of that returned everything.
